Page 4 of You, Me, and Forever

“We don’t have cocks,” I reminded her.

“But someone does, and you’re both blocking him. There hasn’t been a murder in Blushing ever, has there?” Violet was googling it on her phone now. “Nothing comes up. Tourists come here for an escape. Small towns are too gossipy. They’d never get away with it. Plus, I’ve dated plenty of tourists, and I’ve never had an issue.”

“Listen, I’m not going to be pressured into having sex. I will go out tonight. I will put on something sexy and flirt my ass off, if it means tomorrow, you promise that we’ll put our heads together and figure out this venue situation.”

“Do I get to pick your outfit?” Violet asked.

“Sure.”

“Can we use aliases?” she pressed.

“Fine. I know how much you love to pretend to be someone else with tourists.” I chuckled.

“Ohhhh, I’m so here for this,” Blakely said. “We can use fake names and come up with much more exciting careers than we currently have.”

“Hey. We like this career,” Violet said over her laughter.

“I know, but it’s all part of the secret identity. Let’s reinvent ourselves for just one night and have some fun.” Blakely grabbed our empty salad containers and tossed them in the trash.

“I’m in,” Violet said, and they both turned to me.

“Okay. I’m in.” I shook my head.

Why did I feel like I was going to regret this?

Chapter TwoMyles

My company had taken ownership of the Seaside Inn a few days ago, and the current owners had negotiated with me to rent back the place for a month so they could see through some obligations for weddings and other events they’d scheduled.

This was also their personal residence, and they couldn’t get into their new home for another couple of weeks. I knew that it would take me that long to get permits in place. I’d decided to fly in and speak with the contractor in person, as we’d only met via Zoom thus far, but he’d come highly recommended. I’d spend a few weeks here getting everything ready to go before I bulldozed the place down to the studs.

I’d bought this property sight unseen, because when I saw a diamond in the rough, I went after it. My company had purchased a hotel in Anchorage last year that was thriving, but Blushing was all over the news, and everyone and their mother was talking about it.

I didn’t like to miss out on opportunities. This bed-and-breakfast could be accommodating far more people than it was currently serving. The place had eight rooms and a restaurant that was apparently very popular. But it was the land that was the real gem. It sat on an acre of oceanfront property, and I planned to build a much larger structure once I’d torn it down.

I’d spent my afternoon talking with Howard and Lydia Barnes, who’d owned the inn since it opened over thirty-five years ago. They were well past retirement age, and they were ready to be done working so hard.

So I’d made them a generous offer.

I walked the property, and the views were unbelievable. The place was even better in person than it was in the photos. I’d sent my assistant, Connor, out here to scope things out after we’d made the offer, and he’d been impressed.

But even that hadn’t prepared me for the potential here.

I spent the rest of the day crunching numbers, jotting down ideas, and taking a few calls for other projects we currently had going on.

I’d rented a house a few doors down from the inn, and I’d be staying there for a few weeks and working remotely. Now that I was in Blushing, I had some new ideas about expansion that I’d need to run by my architect, Jackson, before we took our final plans back to the city. He also happened to be my best friend, and the best in the business, and I knew he’d work his magic to maximize the potential.

My phone buzzed, and I picked up when Connor’s name flashed across the screen. “Hey, how did the closing go?”

Connor Wilkes basically organized my entire life, and the dude didn’t miss a beat. I trusted him immensely.

“As smooth as always,” he said.

My family owned one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the country. My grandfather had inherited it, and I’d taken over a few years ago. I’d expanded quite a bit since then.

“Great. I’m calling it a day over here. It’s getting late, but you wouldn’t know it because the sun doesn’t fucking sleep here.”

It was almost 9:00 p.m., and you’d think it was the middle of the day.

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